The government said on Wednesday that it will not allow anybody to "browbeat" the judiciary. The reference was to a revelation by a Supreme Court bench that someone in Patna tried to influence the course of the fodder scam case.

Supreme Court judge Justice S N Variava disclosed on Tuesday that someone from the high court in Patna contacted him for changing the trial judge hearing the multi-crore case.

"We will welcome a judicial enquiry into the matter," Law Minister H R Bhardwaj told the Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to Bharatiya Janata Party member Balbir Punj, who wanted to know what the government was doing about media reports quoting Justice Variava on the matter.

Bhardwaj said it was a serious matter and assured the House that "anybody who tends to interfere in judicial proceedings, more so when it is before the apex court, will be dealt with severely."